Grinding and polishing belts in the form of endless belts are used for grinding and polishing of circular pipes, circular wood or similar articles. For this, the grinding belt is, either pushed laterally onto the workpiece to be machined or placed around a grinding belt drive roller of a belt grinding unit. In order to be able to grind or polish enclosed constructions, in which the sliding-on of the grinding belt from the side is not possible, the grinding belt must be cut through to wrap around the item to be machined and then rejoined to form a ring once again. Hitherto the grinding belt was rejoined so that the belt, placed together to form the ring, was bonded over, over its entire length using special tape. This method was indeed very effective and reliable, but on the other hand very time-consuming. In addition, a considerable quantity of woven tape is needed.